Stephen Sarnoff's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Stephen Sarnoff has provided voters with clear stances on key issues by responding to the 2014 Political Courage Test.
Florida State Legislative Election 2014 Political Courage Test
| Pro-choice | a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation? | ||
| No | b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| Yes | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| Yes | d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures? | ||
| No | h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions? | ||
| I believe we must focus the most attention on early education. If a child is properly educated about their body and the consequences of bad choices on their lives it would reduce the amount of unwanted pregnancies. If we had a good comprehensive public health system that made affordable contraception and morning after pills available that also would reduce abortion procedures. More importantly too many middle age white males want to control the lives of women as if they were property. You cannot claim to be pro life if you care more about the fetus than you do the child. | |||
1) State Spending:Using the key, indicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.2) State Taxes:Using the key, indicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) Budget Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Florida's budget.
| Greatly Increase | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Increase | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Greatly Increase | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement/corrections | ||
| Greatly Increase | f) Transportation/infrastructure | ||
| Slightly Increase | g) Welfare | ||
| Slightly Increase | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | b) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Greatly Increase | c) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | d) Gas/Oil taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | e) Property taxes | ||
| Slightly Increase | f) Sales taxes | ||
| No | a) Tapping into Florida's "rainy day" fund | ||
| No | b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| No | c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining | ||
| No | d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions | ||
| No | e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| The economic past of Florida was based on agriculture, land speculation and tourism. A good portion of our cash intake is from retirees with union won defined benefit pension plans from other states. The sustainability of our future depends on having a well trained and educated workforce and entrepreneurs to create, attract and retain current and future businesses. We cannot sustain an increasingly for profit privately-owned incarceration industry. We also cannot spend our tax dollars on unaccountable and unsupervised charter schools and private voucher programs. We cannot afford to give corporate tax breaks for vouchers either. | |||
| We must look for the revenue to replace that money we have lost through mismanagement, lack of accountability and no bid contracts. All corporate tax breaks must be analyzed for performance and achievement of goals. If a business invests in brick and mortar, hires Floridians and pays taxes then it is not acceptable for internet sales to be excused from paying taxes. Since 1999 we have increased corporate welfare by millions and made Florida a tax haven for the rich. We need to face the reality that less government is not working and we must move Florida forward. | |||
| Our budget has been continually destabilized by an extreme conservative agenda since 1999. We have laid government employees off and forced many of them into low wage jobs. Many government employees have gone up to seven years without a pay raise. The only workers who pay an income tax in the state of Florida are those government workers who belong to the Florida Retirement System. We cannot continue to balance our budgets on the backs of workers. | |||
a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting? | ||
| No | e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls? | ||
| When history books are written in the future, three phenomenon of the early 21st century will be identified as the greatest threat to participatory democracy; The Citizens United decision for corporate person-hood and money as speech, voter suppression based on the lie of widespread voter fraud and the decimation of a free and independent press. Gerrymandering has become a science where a Republican minority can rule a Democratic majority in perpetuity. Our districts must be drawn by an independent commission not political consultants with proprietary processes that taxpayers pay for but are not allowed to know how it works. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support legalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Florida has become an incarceration nation with too many of our young people, the overwhelming majority being African-Americans in our prisons. Only one other state spends less on substance abuse treatment and mental health than Florida does. We care more about financially supporting corporate prison owners than taking care of people. Our corrections officers have to supervise 96 plus inmates. Our trade agreements with Mexico and the rest of Central America has destabilized those nations so now those men and women are growing our state's economy without a chance for citizenship. If they are lawful otherwise leave them alone. | |||
| No | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government spending as a means of promoting economic growth? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support an increase of the minimum wage? | ||
| After 15 years of Republican leadership we no longer have a Labor Department, a Department of Community Affairs a mostly privatized Department of Transportation and a neutered Department of Environmental Protection. Our economic future depends on being able to provide the skilled workforce that employers require. The unemployed need our help during the transition to new employment. Leaving a Floridian penniless is never the right answer for the common good. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers? | ||
| No | d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school? | ||
| No | e) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| Yes | g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Florida high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| Common Core was initiated by our nations governors. The goal is to give all Americans without regard to state the education necessary to compete in the global economy. Florida has not fairly compensated teachers in a long time. They deserve across the board wage increases. Tenure means a teacher cannot be fired without just cause like most Americans that belong to a Union. I believe public funds should fund public schools. If not then charters must be totally transparent, be held to the same standards as public schools and must pay the prevailing wage for teachers and support staff. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| No | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for improvements to Florida's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support government regulations of greenhouse gas emissions? | ||
| Florida's environment is fragile. We have limited aquifers, springs and surface waters. We are encroaching and damaging our water recharge areas. I strongly support Amendment 1 because politicians find it to easy to cut funding. Also they give away or sell surplus land that we sometimes end up having to buy back at a greater price. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| Yes | b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns? | ||
| Yes | d) Should a license be required for gun possession? | ||
| No | e) Do you support enacting legislation granting immunity to Floridians who show guns or fire warning shots in self-defense? | ||
| I support the original Supreme Court decisions concerning the Second Amendment. Our democracy is not threatened by our federal government but by those Americans who do not accept the fact that we have a National Guard as the required militia. The current open carry movement is more about the hatred and undeserved distrust of our President than anything else. No one has to worry about someone taking their guns because there are over 300 million of them. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| No | c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| I really want Medicare for All and then have commercial plans to supplement. I support state marketplaces regulated by the state they are in. The Republican Party in Florida has committed a crime against 800,00 low income Floridians by not expanding Medicaid. Over 60,000 new, well paying jobs would have been created. Rural hospitals could be saved from closure and lives saved. The Affordable Care Act is based on a Republican alternative to Hillary's single payer plan and mandatory participation was required. Medical marijuana is a safer alternative to the powerful and addictive pain pills that are prescribed. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support same-sex marriage? | ||
| Yes | b) Should same-sex couples be allowed to form civil unions? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Florida's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Florida's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| I respect the rights of the individual to love the person of their choice. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering of living as someone who you are not. | |||
| Fully fund education and the class size amendment. Fund it by reducing corporate welfare and re instituting the tangible taxes and close service tax loopholes. Accept the Medicaid expansion program, save lives, create jobs and bring the cost of healthcare down. Increase funding for mental health services and substance abuse treatment by the state operating the medical marijuana dispensaries and directing the profits for these and other social programs. Re-regulate the insurance industry and require companies to prove their sustainability by maintaining a business rating of A or better and the company and its re-insurers must be American companies. |
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